October 2010

October 28, 2010

What is interesting about this update is that it includes the Autodesk Revit Activity Stream App, a new way to see the updates that are happening with a workshared project and it works with Revit Server.

From the download site:

"The Revit Activity Stream app connects Revit to Bluestreak cloud services to help distributed teams more effectively collaborate as they work on one model. This Bluestreak app combines automated notifications of Revit worksharing events with informal team comments so team members can communicate when models are saved to central to ensure efficient hand-offs. The Revit Activity Stream app is compatible with the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Revit Architecture 2011, Revit Structure 2011, and Revit MEP 2011 software, as well as the Revit Server environment. Note: In order to use Autodesk Revit Activity Stream, you must also install Bluestreak Desktop."

You might remember that the worksharing monitor doesn't work with the new Revit Server (from 10 things to know about Revit Server), so here is a way to help you keep up to date with what is happening across your model.

October 27, 2010

Quick tip for Revit Architecture 2011 and the Sun Path. By default the Sun Path is for an on-screen visual representation. So while you can see and interact with it in the view, it will not print, render, or export to formats such as DWF or Solar Studies.

However, you can capture the sun path in images should you wish to utilize it for solar studies. The trick is to export to an image format, which will include the sun path.

For example, enable the Sun Path in the view and set the date\time as needed.

Then right-click on the view in the Project Browser > Save to Project as Image.

Specify the name, options and image quality. After you click OK the view will be saved as a new image under the Project Browser > Renderings.

Adjust the Date\Time as needed and repeat the process to save additional views.These image views could then be dragged to a sheet to organize a solar study:

Alternatively, you could potentially create an animation should this be the desired end result. Instead of saving to the project as an image, you could Export > Images and Animations > Image. Once you have the still exported images you could combine them in an application such as Windows Movie Maker.

Just to recap, this process would only be necessary to capture the sun path. Otherwise the standard Revit solar studies and animations would capture everything else.

I want to give a friendly welcome to a new product support blog that launched a little while back. Katie Jacques and Nate Moore have created the GIS Exchange.

The blog is dedicated to product support tips, tricks and workarounds, product announcements and other newsworthy things related to the GIS products (including Map 3D, MapGuide, Topobase, LandXplorer and Raster Design).

The script works very similar to the uninstall script, but it only fixes the problem with the WSCommcntr2.exe process, and the corrupt WSCommCntrData.xml file.

This scipt will also work with any Revit 2011 product, just type in the product name (just Architecture, Structure, or MEP) and the script will do the rest with just a little bit of intereaction from you.

October 22, 2010

In Revit 2011 you may have noticed 3 included render appearance categories for paint which you may apply to wall elements. I’ve organized some example images and information below to illustrate the differences in output and options for these render appearances:

Wall Paint – Glossy & Wall Paint – Matte

Wall Paint Glossy and Matte contain the same 3 options when specified as the render appearance:

Paint, is based on the generic render appearance. I would recommend using this render appearance if you do not want to utilize the finish \ application settings of the wall paint and instead simply specify standard color, image fade, glossiness & highlight settings.

October 21, 2010

The new hotfix corrects a black preview swatch in the Initial Color Dialog and helps to reduce the occurrence in some Language Formats where aspects of the User Interface fills the application window after accessing the initial color dialog.

Make sure to apply Update Release 2 before applying the hotfix and check out the Read me. If you have the UI problem you can fix it by Resetting your Revit User Interface. After applying the hotfix, you should not need to reset the UI again.

With the addition of Revit Server in the Revit 2011 Subscription Advantage Pack, you might encounter some instances where you need to do some troubleshooting on the server. For example, if you are getting something like this when you attempt to connect to the Server:

To troubleshoot something like this, I’ve put together a couple of steps to make sure that the Revit Server is setup correctly, where log files are stored and what to do to bring the server down .

The first thing to check is to verify and make sure that all the pre-requisites are properly installed. Check out this video for the steps to setup IIS7.

One of the easiest pre-requisites to miss is "Web Server (IIS) Support". Make sure if you see that as an option to select when adding roles to the Server, that you check it (or it is already). What is possibly confusing here is that there is a difference between the “Web Server (IIS)” role and the “Web Server (IIS) support” role service. Revit server needs the role service, but there is a temptation to choose the role because it is available on the same page as the Application Server role and sounds so similar.

Local and Central Servers need the same pre-requisites for Revit Server. Make sure they both are setup correctly.

Revit Server also stores log files on the Server. The log files are stored typically at C:\logfiles. These log files can be helpful in understanding what is happening and if the server is running correctly and Support may ask you for them if you report a problem.

Along the way, you may need to bring the server down for maintenance, gathering log files or for other troubleshooting. Bringing down the server allows you to delete or archive the existing log files so that new logs are created. Before bringing down the server, if you have already setup a project, make sure to lock the server in the Revit Server Administrator so that no one can access it. Bringing down the server means doing three things (the order is not important) :

Go to the Start Menu and go to Administrative Tools, open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. Select the RevitServerAppPool and in the sidebar select Stop.

Go to Administrative Tools and select Services. Shut down the AutoSync Service in Service by right clicking on it and choose stop.

Bring up the Task Manager and switch to the processes tab. Check for any instances of w3wp.exe in the system process list and end those tasks.

When you are ready to start Revit Server back up, go back to number 3 above and reverse the first two items by starting the RevitServerAppPool and starting the Autosync Service.

You can also verify from the Server if the running by attempting to access the Revit Server Administrator tool from the Server host. Navigate to Revit Server Administrator the same way you would from a workstation. This will help check if the Server is running correctly, but perhaps a firewall is in the way from the workstations.

The biggest item in this list is number 1. Making sure you have all the pre-requisites installed correctly is uber critical to getting Revit Server up and running correctly.

October 20, 2010

By default in Revit you cannot measure the total length of multiple detail lines.

However you can measure the total length of multiple model lines using the Measure Along An Element tool and TAB selecting the chain.

So if you needed a quick total length you could select the detail lines > Convert Lines > Measure Along An Element > TAB > click chain. The Options Bar will list the Total Length, as well as a temporary dimension for each line segment. As needed the model lines could be converted back to detail lines when complete.